Where Clowe likely fits in, Stalock up from Worcester — and Wilson’s answer on the Nabokov question

OK, we know already that Ryane Clowe is coming back into the lineup tomorrow night against the Los Angeles Kings.

So where do you play him? After all the team has won all four games without him (And I’d mention that they had lost their six previous games with him, except for the fact he took exception — jokingly, I think — when I steered our conversation in that direction.)

For starters, it looks as if he’ll be at left wing on a line with Kyle Wellwood and Benn Ferriero.

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Todd McLellan would only say that was one option, that he might put Clowe back with Logan Couture or alongside Joe Thornton. Suffice to say that, as always, things will be fluid if all isn’t going smoothly against the Kings.

But creating that third line does make sense if the idea is to capitalize on what’s been working in those last four victories. So it’s not hard to imagine the other lines staying pretty much as they were most of the time in that 4-3 victory over Minnesota and looking something like this:

Marleau-Thornton-Pavelski

Heatley-Couture-Setoguchi

Eager-Mayers-McGinn

During practice, McLellan also had his players setting up plays with a 5-on-3 advantage. One unit consisted of Heatley-Thornton-Marleau-Boyle-Pavelski while the other was Cl0we-Couture-Wellwood-Demers-Vlasic.

****The Sharks did indeed call Alex Stalock up from Worcester to serve as Antti Niemi’s back-up in Los Angeles, and, with the All-Star break upon us, Stalock knows it’s just for one game and he’ll be back in Worcester for this weekend’s games against Bridgeport and Providence.

The flip side of that is J.P. Anderson has been sent back to Mississauga and the OHL.

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Stalock had no problem being the third goalie to serve as the back-up since Antero Niittymaki injured his groin in Vancouver last week. Yes, there was a medical issue — “I played through that” — but more important was the fact Worcester had a couple games to play.

“We’re in the middle of a playoff race,” he said. “We needed points and those were big games for us. But it’s definitely nice to be able to go through this for a couple days, see what guys do and get the hang of it. It’ll be good.”

*****Speaking of Worcester, defenseman Justin Braun has been added to the AHL All-Star roster for the game being played Monday in Hershey, Pa. And the flip side of that is that Jonathan Cheechoo will miss the game because of an injury.

*****As he did yesterday, Torrey Mitchell skated on his own before practice.

*****Turns out Wellwood had a genetic connection to the Sharks before he was picked up on a waiver claim last week. Forward Todd Elik, who played 97 games with San Jose between October 1993 and March 1995, is his second cousin. I got the idea the two weren’t close, probably due to the 17-year gap in their ages.

*****Doug Wilson and staff are back from their time on the East Coast, watching Worcester play and scouting other games as well — Charlie Coyle is playing for Boston University, making it a pretty safe bet they took in a BU game.

So I asked straight out: Did the Sharks put in a waiver claim for Evgeni Nabokov?

Didn’t say yes, didn’t say no. Instead I got the answer from Wilson that I expected — at that time he was another team’s property and we don’t comment on other team’s players.

*****Sharks off to LA this afternoon, I’m heading down there in the morning.

David Pollak

David Pollak has been following the NHL forever and at the Mercury News as an editor or reporter since 1987. For almost a decade he wrote about the Sharks as the paper's Fan in the Stands before joining the sports department in 2001. He became the Sharks beat writer before the 2007-08 season and began this blog at that time. You can also follow him on Twitter at @PollakOnSharks.

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He went to KHL and stunk, probably had more than a few personal conflicts, and backed out, so he shouldn’t have gone to the KHL.

Now he’s of even more questionable performance and has solidified a reputation as a pain in the butt which suggest he’s a poop of a team mate.

Had he gone to Detroit and beat us in the playoffs I would hate him.

Had he reported to NY and kicked butt for 30 games he could call his shot. I still like nabby but he’s harder to like after this mess.

For his sa

Sharkalchemy

Niemi and Nitty…

I’m not a Niemi troll. tbh, if you can’t see how much more upside he has over Nitty you can’t evaluate talent that well. In the throws of Nitty’s decent play and numbers and Niemi barely looking interested I could still see Niemi would end up #1 down the stretch and into the playoffs.

Nitty is good insurance but seriously, would DW have put in a claim on Nabby and then what…trade him? It’s just as well it didn’t happen, it would have been disruptive and unnecessary, Niemi and Nitty should be just fine for the run.

Don

This blog sucks. Not much interesting here.

L’Bum

Don…you said twice on this thread that this blog is boring. Why r you still commenting if it is so boring?

ML

Don (#24 & #51),

If this blog is so horrible, then how come you’ve spent the last 5 hours reading and commenting on it?

WI JP

ML, I have often wondered that myself. Some days there is some worthwhile hockey discussion herein. Today, Nabby dominates, which may be of interest for about 5 mins.

Hope my Sharks are spirited tomorrow. Nite. JP

puckace

Don “Bum” Cherry?

Dirty Bum

Is it Wednesday yet?

Dirty Bum

Hey DP, where do you go eat at in LA? There is so much to choose from. If you say it’s all about the bacon-wrapped hot dogs cooked on a half-sheet pan over Sternos with lukewarm mayonnaise, onions and jalapenos…well I can’t blame you for that one. Or if you make over to Silverlake or Los Feliz, there are some fantastic little hole-in-the-walls that will knock your socks off.

Congrats to JB and his selection. The potential for this guy is way up. His playing style is sort of hybrid and that wicked shot of his should take him a long way.

The blessing in disguise is that Clowe will come back like a man on fire after his little break. I bet he is chomping at the bit to get back in there and continue leading like he has.

NB Finfan

Since I am now known to my new Bumfellows as Nasty Bum, I figured I needed a Nasty Bum Avatar. It took hours scouring the Interwebs but I finally found one and it just so happens to fit the topic-du-jour.

Scum Bum

I like the new look Nasty Bum… Nabby’s looking humble.

No wonder it took so long to find

-Scum Bum
Proud member of the Bums Club
“Not a Bum? Then you’re just a Loser”

Scum Bum

puckace #55,

nolimits

TG all of us can watch hockey tonight…got tickets for the Wings/Devils game yeah! Can’t wait.

I don’t know if any of you watch the ASG stuff but I would recommend at least catching the skills competitioin. It going to be a long 6 six days of us hockey bums.

Ok so IMO it is a must win tonight for SJ…agreed? Being that they are out of the playoff bubble (#10 seed) and the 6 thru 10th spot is only separated by 2 points they must keep pace from here on out period. Another 4-5 game losing streak and it’s pretty much over. Hopefully someone above SJ will have a losing streak too!

However you look at it, it’s going to be great hockey down the stretch where every point is critical.

God’s speed tonight!

Scum Bum

nolimitsbum,

Yeah, should be a good game seeing as NJ has been rejuvenated. Wings without Ozzie, Holmer, Cleary, Datsyuk… a good game indeed!

I don’t see tonight’s Sharks game is any more of a must win than any others.

I agree that some team(s) in the top 8 are going to hit a rough patch and the Sharks need to make the most of that situation.

-Scum Bum
Proud member of the Bums Club
“Where Bums are Chums – unless you’re a Wings fan!“

nolimitsbum

Oh come on ScumBum we have a great rivilry with you guys.
There is no doubt we are not he same team without Homer, Cleary and especially Dats & Stuart but we’re still sitting in 2nd place (barely) in the WC. Howard is just ok right now but that will change when we get back 2 of our best 2-way players after the break (Dats & Cleary).
I’m just glad we are hanging in with all the injuries.

Agreed…your only hope is that some of the higher seeds choke the last 30 games of the season and SJ keeps rolling. That’s really your only hope to get in the PO.

g-bum-man

The Sharks need to get in Jonathon Quick’s grill often, and with determination. If they go hard to the net, like they have done lately, and screen Quick effectively, then the 37 shots that they usually uncork will have a chance.

And…pass, pass, pass. Good passing leads to good chances.

Bark for the Shark!!! RUFF, RUFF! Beat LA!

Bdub

All this bum bizz…It’s like watching the wave break out at a hockey game…bye everyone…it was fun – til now.

bruce

The reason Nabby gets so much attention here, I THINK, is that Sharks fans really cared about him. Just as we cared about Cheech, Buster, and Ricchi . Not just how they did or didn’t perform on the ice, but how we saw them off the ice. All have different personalities, but something about each one made us really care. The current roster is sorely lacking in the charisma department, imo. I have a soft spot for Patty,Joe,Nichol, Pickles and Douglass but that’s about it(well, Clowey,too). The rest of them are basically guys wearing the Teal, but not really part of the fabric of the Sharks community. Heatley? Who cares? The goalies? Boring and subpar production so far. Boyle? PuhLease! I can’t stand his tired act. Score a goal and shut up for cryin’ out loud. The rest just seem to be “cannabalizing” roster spots for now.
Meanwhile, I still check out how Cheech is doing in the AHL and what Nabby’s going to do. After so many games and seeing their families in the stands or around town, those guys still matter to me. The new crop? Not so much.
Before I get called a kool aid drinker or whatever, that’s my opinion as a 20 year ticket holder.

jeremy6411111

David,

Just ask the league, ask someone who would know. Nabokov’s agent. If Doug Wilson put in a claim, thats on paper. They faxed that paper into the league. So the answer exists, concretely, on paper. It’s not just locked away in Doug Wilson’s mind. You can get that piece of paper, and that will tell you. There are people who have seen that piece of paper, and they know, so you could get the info from them.

I mean, Doug Wilson doesn’t tell you the information you want to know, and that’s it? Do you think Richard Nixon just told Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein everything about watergate, and then proceeded to hand them all the evidence with a bow? No!!! They did some DIGGING. It’s called BEING A JOURNALIST. If you can’t even find out if a hockey team put in a waiver claim in for their ex-goalie… God man! You piss me off sometimes. I do feel empathy towards you sometimes, but this is just unacceptable. We as sharks fans deserve so much better. Do your job man or please, resign, so we fans can get someone here who will.

Sorry I have to be harsh here, and you’re a perfectly good guy, but this is just unacceptable. If this were about being a good guy I would be all compliments, but this is about doing your job and getting us the information, and if you’re not up to the task we who follow the team and get emotionally invested deserve someone who is up to the task, someone who can fulfill that emotional investment through information. In other words, if we as fans are stuck caring about whether or not Doug Wilson put a claim in for Nabokov, then we deserve to know the answer. Somewhere out there in Newcastle, England there is a soccer fan who doesn’t know who Nabokov is, and doesn’t care about the waiver claim, but we Sharks fans watched him for years; we put the time in, and we found ourselves emotionally invested. If you’re not going to tell us, don’t have us care. It’s like talking to a friend who says, “Hey, I have this ridiculous, crazy secret about that girl you have a huge crush on.” “Oh yeah??? What???” “Sorry can’t tell you.” See I didn’t care about that secret, or know there was a secret, until you told me. But because you told me, now I’m emotionally invested, and I want to know. It’s the same here. Between the Sharks organization and yourself, hey, don’t let me get emotionally invested in your team, and your players, Doug Wilson, or the team and players you cover, David Pollak, if you’re not going to give me the scoop on them, if you’re not going to fulfill that emotional investment. If I wasn’t a Sharks fan, if I didn’t spend money on that team, support that team, watch that team, I wouldn’t care about this Nabokov business, but, because I did all of that, and the organization let me do all that–they took my money, my TV ratings, my support, because of that, now I deserve the reciprocation. They allowed me to care about the question, so now I deserve to know the answer. If you’re not going to give the answer, make sure no one cares about it.

David, you fall into all of this to because you’re the #1 information provider for the Sharks (not saying much), and your blog encourages emotional investment in the team as well. In fact the blog is dependent on emotional investment in the Sharks. And people are investment. Now give it back. You’ve got us caring about knowing if Doug Wilson put in the claim, so now tell us. Give us the information we care about. That’s your job, and believe it or not it goes beyond asking Doug Wilson and the players’ questions. If they don’t tell you something you want to know, you shouldn’t shrug your shoulders and say, “Oh well.” You start digging. There are so many other ways to get information than asking the people who least want to give it to you. There is no upside for Doug Wilson if he tells you whether he put a claim in on Nabokov besides doing you a favor, and he couldn’t care less about you. He’s not the person to ask. Anyone not affiliated with the Sharks would be a good start, because members of the Sharks’ org. are only interested in keeping everything Sharks’ related a secret. There is no downside to keeping things a secret, but it’s always something negative comes of giving away information. That’s why you’re going to have to learn to get information from somewhere else. Just as the Nixon administration were the worst people to get information about Watergate from, the Sharks are the worst place to get the secrets of the Sharks from. Is Joe Thornton the best option for getting Joe Thornton’s thoughts and opinions? Yes, if you have a hidden microphone in his house. But, yes. Is Joe Thornton the best option to learn about a secret injury he has, that if it was known about, other teams could exploit it? No. Is Doug Wilson the best option to get information out of, that if other GM’s knew, they might be able to exploit, such as if Doug Wilson put in a waiver claim on Nabokov? Obviously, no.

Listen, David, I’m done criticizing you. Like I said you’re a good guy. Don’t let all this get you down or anything. Just please start doing your job. That’s all. Nothing bad about you as a person, or anything negative about you in the least, and I’m not going to say anything about anything else, but please, just start doing your job.

Sincerely,

Jeremy

jeremy6411111

people are invested, not investment

jeremy6411111

its always possible, not its always something.

David, I don’t want to pile on, but you could really do to add an edit button to your site.

Long Time No Cup

Check the watch…. Oh, so sorry: must run…

Room empties out.

Silence.

Atta boy Jeremy.

Tano

Bruce, I respect your comments and opinion, whether you have been following the Sharks for 20 years as a ticket holder or not, or following the sharks for 2 months, we are all entitled to say what we think in a decent and respectful manner.

In my personal opinion, I would not put the names Ricci and Nobokov in the same sentence when it comes to talking about character. One left everything and more on the ice, the other one seemed to be more concerned about what was left in the bank and not worried about what was left in the net.

NickG

Can jeremy6411111 be known as “Wall of text that nobody wants to read” bum?

RG3120

Works both ways. Let’s say DP does know and DW told him off the record. Do you think that DP should risk alienating DW for this tidbit and risk not being given any information in the future? Reporters have/get to pick and choose what is worth spilling. Is that right? Not my place to say but I do like the information that I get here on Working the Corners.

Johnny San Jose

jeremy6411111 — That’s pretty interesting you compare DP’s journalism tactics with those of the Watergate conspiricy. Oh well. To each, his own, I guess.

By the length of your posts, it seems that you may have been a journalism major yourself. Hence the “need” to criticize others in the profession.

People that make similar comments about others seem to think that their way is the right way. David can’t please everybody in here.

I look at what David does in here for us as a bonus. The man has a job that pays him money. This blog makes him zero dollars. It’s an added joy for us Sharks fans. Take it in that vein.

I highly doubt that everything you do for your job is flawless. Take it easy on others. It may lower your blood pressure and cause a bit more happiness to you and all those around you.

It’s only January!!!

NickG

@johnny san jose – sorry to break it to you, but I AM always right.

Sammy

jeremy64111…. whoa dude

L’Bum

#66 Bruce–Very nicely put. Funny thing I have a soft spot for the very same players and I agree with you on the fascination of some of us with Nabby & Cheech. Loved your comment about Boyler too! Sounds like after 20 years you have some authority on the team. i myself have only been a season ticket holder for the past 10 years!

Snow Bum

LTNC –

L’Bum

#71 Tano Another true statement about Nabby! Now, it looks like his greed is going to bite him in the BUM!

Johnny San Jose

NickG — I’ll be you use a lot, “because I said so”. I do it too. It takes a big person to admit when they’re wrong. Give it a shot… you’ll grow.

Findesicle

#66 Jeremy, you get into your kid’s Ritalin? A “bit” over the top eh?

joel

right, Tano. and don’t forget in 2003 nabokov held out for more money, and missed five games due to his greed. he said later what he did was “unsportsmanlike”, and would not do it again. Hah, he is doing it again right now, holding out and refusing to play unless his demands are met.

Nabby played more years and more games in San Jose than all the favorites I mentioned,right? So he was here for ten years as a money grubbing ingrate? How does one come up with that conclusion? A 10 year veteran has the right to choose how he wants to go out. Nabby wanted one last shot with a real contender and was offered that chance by Detroit, not San Jose and not NYI. The Islanders either did no due diligence or thought he’d come to their sorry situation to bail them out. Either way, it looks like Nabby was only pointing towards this season and going to play in Long Island for 3 months as a showcase towards next year’s contract held no importance. If he should report(and I hope he does) then I’m wrong, but I think Nabby has played his lst game. Bottom line, a 10 year Shark is indeed fondly thought of by more than a few Sharks fans.

JB

re: 82 – The two situations are not comparable beyond the superficial details. Years ago, Nabby was already a Shark and the team had every reason to expect him to be in goal for them. But now Snow just picked him off the waiver wire, seizing an opportunity as it presented itself. It’s not like they’ve been planning for him to be there.

y’bum

What is it that people like about Nabby? The Calder trophy? The Vezina candidate? The countless playoff failures? The Olympic failures? The no accountability for his mistakes? His putting blame on others? The cool skulls on his mask?
The guy seems like he’s just full of himself….I don’t get it. He has really nothing greta on his resume other than he’s been all of those things…constant runner up or DNF.
He does have cool nickname though..NAB-BY, NAB-BY….Really? “Nabby” sounds like plush toy a kid would have.
He needs to suck it up, and get some skulls painted in NYI colors on that mask of his and show up for the next 3 months. Prove to the NHL world that he is an elite goaltender (which I believe he is not). Just think if he were able to bring some credibility back to Long Island….he would save face for sure, and be able to get what he wants next year. As it is right now, I hope the NYI management put the screws deep and hard to him for his seflishness. MHO..

I think the response Joe Thornton gave (regarding Nabby’s situation) paints a picture where his peers don’t exactly feel sorry for him, since the rules are the rules.

That said, I think it’s unfair for people on this blog to criticize Nabby for declining Philly’s offer or going to Russia to play or coming back from Russia. No one here is walking in his shoes and you have zero insight on what is going on from a family or business (what his agent is seeing/hearing/telling) perspective.

I would also add that for a game where “gentlemen’s agreement” seems to be law in many areas, I find it interesting that a team with zero chance for the playoffs would alter the fortunes of a playoff team to block Detroit or grab Nabby for themselves. Baseball does a better job of respecting their fellow GMs in this area…and I can see why Nabby (or anyone else) would say, “It makes no sense”.

Now that NYI is putting the screws to him, his agent better get on a plane and talk to their management. Heck…maybe he needs a new agent, since he allowed such a low offer to be accepted in the first place; creating this “bargain bin” opportunity for lousy teams needing a goalie.

cap-o-113

Were the sharks below the blues when the Wellwood deal went down? Else how did they get to put in a waiver, or is this a waiver rule that allows all 29 other teams a chance to claim? Don’t recall
=cap